from the slick Afolabi. Despite managing to recover and win the majority of the next few rounds he was knocked out by Afolabi in round 9 when a huge overhand right put him on the canvas and forced the referee to call off the fight. Lebedev fight, retirement, and return Maccarinelli's next fight was against the unbeaten Russian Denis Lebedev on 18 July 2009. As with the Afolabi contest the fight took place at the M.E.N. Arena on the undercard of an Amir Khan fight, this time Khan's WBA light-welterweight title challenge against Andreas Kotelnik. From the very beginning of the fight Maccarinelli struggled with the power of his opponent and by the end of the second round his right eye had swollen completely shut from the punches landed by Lebedev. In the third round Lebedev rocked Maccarinelli with an uppercut which landed cleanly through his guard and after a further barrage of unanswered punches the referee stepped in and called a stop to the fight. Before the fight Maccarinelli had admitted that the contest represented "the last chance saloon" in terms of getting his career back on track, following 2 KO losses in his last 3 fights, and talking immediately after the defeat he hinted that this latest setback could signal the end of his boxing career. In an interview with his local paper a few days later Maccarinelli apparently confirmed his intention to retire from the sport, although he retracted this in a later interview with the same source. Maccarinelli began his latest comeback attempt on another Amir Khan undercard, this time Khan's WBA Light-Welterweight title defence against on 5 December at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. His opponent was the relatively unknown Hungarian journeyman Krisztian Jaksi. who provided little resistance and was knocked out in the 1st round. Maccarinelli managed a second consecutive 1st-round KO victory against Hungarian opposition when he defeated Zoltan Czekus at the Echo Arena Liverpool on 13 March 2010. European cruiserweight title shot Following his two quick comeback wins Maccarinelli's next fight took place on 27 April 2010 when he fought Russian prospect Alexander Kotlobay in St Petersburg for the vacant European cruiserweight title. Despite now being the fighter that had to travel and fight on someone else's patch, Maccarinelli scored his third consecutive quick victory when he knocked Kotlobay down with an overhand right before the referee stepped in to end